Electricity is an important ingredient of modern existence. Many of the devices that we use for life, productivity, and/or entertainment are powered by electricity. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an electricity distribution environment 10. As shown, the supply of electricity 12 is controlled from a central location, such as electrical plant 22. From electrical plant 22, electricity 12 is distributed via a distribution network 20, to consumers, such as house 32, office 34 and factory 36. Currently, distribution of electricity 12 is largely based on customer demand.
Demand-based distribution introduces several challenges to the distribution of electricity 12. Because demand is not constant for customers, the amount of electricity that electrical plant 22 must distribute is variable. For example, overall usage of electricity 12 during nighttime hours, when most people are sleeping, may be significantly different from daytime demand.
To account for this variability, electrical plants 22 must be adapted to provide a lower amount of electricity when there is less demand and a greater amount of electricity when there is greater demand. Even so, there may be times when demand reaches a point beyond which electrical plant 22 cannot meet it. For example, in case of very high daytime temperatures, increased usage of electricity 12 by air conditioners may cause a “spike” that places so much additional load on distribution network 20 that sufficient electricity 12 cannot be supplied by electrical plant 22.
Electrical plants 22 currently attempt to deal with spikes in a variety of ways. For example, electrical plant 22 may cease providing electricity 12 to a particular customer or subset of customers, such as house 32, for a particular period of time. Often these secessions of service, called “brownouts” are applied to a particular region for a period of time and then rotated to other regions for as long as the spike occurs. However, one shortcoming of the use of brownouts to ration electricity is that there is no way to determine who can and who cannot do without electricity for a particular period of time. For example, denial of electricity 12 may be dangerous or even deadly in certain cases, such as for the elderly during a heat wave or for those who depend on medical devices that run on electricity.